When deciding where to go for dinner with my friends Ronsee and Val, I suggested the newly-opened Akoya Izakaya, which I'd been wanting to try out for the last few months.
Chicken cartilage yakitori
Wagyu beef tataki
Tako wasabi
Bara chirashi don
Mentaiko udon
Wagyu katsu
Grilled miso black cod
Matcha and black sesame Hokkaido ice cream
Highlights for me were the beef tataki, bara chirashi don, and wagyu katsu, but everything we tried was genuinely excellent. Quality, flavours, and presentation are on point; decor is simple but sleek with a Japanese aesthetic; service is polite and efficient. Frankly, the only disappointment was the dessert, and not because it wasn't good (it's very creamy and incredibly flavourful — not like your typical mass-produced green tea and black sesame ice creams that you would find at AYCE restaurants), but because the portions are absolutely dismal, they are pre-scooped (you can tell because the matcha one looked like it had already melted and was re-frozen), and presentation really left something to be desired — it was especially jarring since everything else we had ordered was amazing.
Like most "izakaya" outside of Japan, Akoya is more akin to a quasi-fine dining restaurant rather than a cheap and casual drinking establishment, so everything is expensive for what it is — our bill was about $230 after tax and tip without any drinks. Akoya does have a one-up on other izakaya I have visited in the GTA in that they have traditional Japanese-style private rooms where you have to take your shoes off and sit on individual cushions (they're on benches here rather than the floor), so the experience is more unique. Overall, Akoya is definitely worth visiting, but given the pricing, I would keep it for special occasions only. And skip the dessert. You're better off getting vanilla soft serve at the McDonald's in the same plaza.
Akoya Izakaya
Markham Town Square
8601 Warden Ave., Unit 13
Markham, ON L3R 0B5
(905) 917-1615
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